I am an evil giraffe. Who no longer blogs about politics.

It has it all: the truth of the basic situation (Obamacare is a TAX), the willingness of Barack Obama to admit it (he is NOT), and the way that this entire situation is leaving the taste of ash in the mouths of more perceptive liberals everywhere (they REALLY didn’t want to get limits on the Commerce Clause*). Pretty good cartoon.

Moe Lane

*To reference AoSHQ: I understand a certain skepticism towards Congress is warranted at all times; but, really, there was a reason why the administration avoided admitting that it was a tax in the first place.

And that affects profoundly the question of how to get rid of it. Mickey Kaus is correct, and Ryan Lizza & David Frum are wrong on this: the only reason that Obamacare was not cast down was because the US Supreme Court decided 5-4 that the so-called ‘individual mandate’ was constitutional if it was considered to be a tax. The US Supreme Court also decided, 5-4, that the so-called ‘individual mandate’ was not Constitutional if done under the Commerce Clause. So anyone who wants to argue that the Obamacare health tax is not actually a tax must also admit that Obamacare is unconstitutional. Supporters of Obamacare do not get to have it both ways. The Supreme Court has ruled that Obamacare’s centerpiece is a half trillion dollar tax hike on the middle class. This is a thing that has happened. And it means, among other things, that the Democrats’ threat of a filibuster is an empty one when it comes to repealing it next January. We have a Senate majority, we can remove the health tax. Simple as that.

DO NOT LET THE OTHER SIDE GET AWAY WITH PRETENDING OTHERWISE. I understand fully why the Democrats don’t want to campaign on the position that their ‘signature’ accomplishment is a horrific, promise-breaking middle class tax hike; it’s only slightly better than campaigning on a promise to give kittens leprosy. But that’s the Democrats’ problem, not ours. All we have to do is figure out new ways to keep the gloating albatross around their collective neck until the election. And one way to do that is to never, ever, ever let any apologist for the Democrats and/or Barack Obama get away with pretending that Obamacare [can be constitutional without being] a tax. If they get upset about that… good. That means that what you’re doing is working.

We had originally hoped to talk with Senator Lee about Obamacare Obama’s health tax yesterday, but the unique – and, in some quarters, ever-so-slightly controversial – nature of the US Supreme Court decision made scheduling a touch complex. Translation: BOOM went the (metaphorical) dynamite over at the Supreme Court, thus bringing us Chaos and Old Night f0r a while.

Fortunately, things were a bit calmer this morning, so I talked with the Senator for a bit about some aspects of the Obama health tax decision.

In other news: Mitt Romney raised $4.3 million dollars – whoops, make that $4.6 million – over the last day from the Supreme Court decision. I’m given to understand that this represents something like thirty times their usual daily online take – and it’s small donor-driven, too: the average donation was $25. A very nice haul, in other words – and the Romney campaign didn’t particularly have to do anything to get it, either*. Well, besides pointing out the exceptionally obvious point that Obamacare is a half trillion tax on the middle class.

Datechguy notes that, contra the somewhat misogynistic and certainly low-rent exuberance coming out of the DNC over having the Obamacare health tax upheld, Democratic street monsters are quietly freaking worried about how the ruling will interfere with their candidates’ electoral chances. The problem is that nobody likes to run on tax increases, and Obamacare is an at minimum five hundred billion tax increase* on the middle class. After noting that, and the large sums of money being raised by the GOP on short notice, Datechguy concludes.

As General Nathanael Greene said after Bunker Hill: I wish we could sell them another hill at the same price.

Ayup.

Moe Lane

*The US Supreme Court also defanged the Obama administration’s plan to foist Medicare costs off on the states, so expect it to become a heck of a lot more obviously fiscally irresponsible, very soon.

Short version, from what I can tell: the court decided that Obamacare’s individual mandate is not permitted under the Commerce Clause, but is permitted in terms of being a tax. Which means three things:

The President is a poor Constitutional Scholar, given that he claimed that the health tax was permitted under the Commerce Clause;

The President is a liar, as he promised not to raise taxes on the middle class.

Vote Republican in November. As a tax, we can get rid of this monstrosity with a simple majority vote in the Senate (HI, RECONCILIATION!).